Flanders
:The poorly drained Ypres saillient was the site of many bloody battles fought in the mud. '' :– In-game description '''Flanders' is an extremely damp map, set in the Ypres salient on the northwestern portion of the Franco-Belgian frontier, where there exist craters filled with water in which soldiers can drown. Based off the muddy Ypres salient in which Anglo-Belgian troops fought the Germans for four years, the map is almost entirely flat, with extremely shallow trenches, if any – making it extremely favourable artillery space. There exist a number of blockhouses, which serve as charnel houses where troops give their lives one by one in a vain attempt to capture. It is also extremely large, easily fitting a game of 64 players. The lack and shallowness of cover is frustrating, and this is not helped with the giant expanses of flat space in which snipers can lay down devastating fire. Map The trenches are named as follows, from left to right. The starting German line is the Frontline Breastworks, while the starting Entente line is the Frontline Outposts. #Canal Side HQ #Fallback Line #Fortified Position #Frontline Breastworks #Frontline Outposts #Ditch Defences #Reserve Line #Artillery Line Entente strategy The Entente does not start with a very good position. Open to enfilade fire and almost no recourse if pushed back (especially to the last line, which is effectively a shooting gallery for German machine guns), Entente forces should try everything to push forwards into the German first line. Defending On the first trench, if defending, the Entente should focus on the far and middle right, where the road intersects the right-hand side of their line. This road provides some cover in which German troops can advance and infiltrate the Entente lines. On the far left, past the firing position marked by a number of fire loops, there is also a position in which the Germans can advance under cover. If spawning on the far left and defending, the Germans will spawn to the right of their main blockhouse, generally advancing diagonally towards the mid-right trenches. Attacking The Germans hold a defensible position dominated by three landmarks: the far left dugout, the middle concrete blockhouse, and a mid-right hill upon which sits a small overturned cart. The far left can be assaulted effectively, although there is a German spawn behind the far left dugout, making it difficult to hold. The concrete blockhouse cannot be assaulted directly, due to nearby barbed wire, but can be effectively suppressed with sniper fire. The mid-right hill can be effectively suppressed using artillery fire. An assault on the extremely flanks, using the same cover by which the Germans advance into the Entente lines, is accomplishable. The great open ground at the centre of the field is generally uncrossable, with crossfire from the mid-right hill and the concrete blockhouse making advance in that area by a large force unlikely at best. Central Powers strategy The Germans start with a reasonably defensible position, with a dominating field of view over the central part of the map. Attacking If attacking, the Germans should concentrate their efforts on taking the far left parts of the Entente line, and then quickly pushing into the centre of the Entente line. Due to the lack of cover behind the left part of the Entente line, a few machine guns are quite capable to prevent a flanking attack on the German foothold. Defending When defending the first line, the Germans, if holding the far right dugout and the mid-left hill, can generally dominate the field. Watch out for enemy flanking maneuvers on the extreme left, which can be hidden in a network of craters intersected by road. Category:Maps